I am just an old gal, with some time on her hands, and loose thoughts from time to time... Wife, mother of 8, grandmother of 20 and great-grandmother of 21

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

ISOLATION...

As I walked today around the town,(they are still doing construction onHwy 200) I noticed there are a lot ofvehicles with the darken windows.In fact one person waved at me, andI didn't know it until they were alongside of me. And, of course, because wewere moving in opposite directions...I didn't see them until it was too late.And they probably think I am a blindor snubbed them.

I don't know why people have fulldarken windows. Mine has the onestrip of tint across the top of thewindshield which keeps the glare down.But these are fully dark windows onthe sides and tinted on the front. Is itto keep strangers from seeing you? Thatis ok, if that is what you want, but youalso keep your friends from seeing youtoo. And unless you have done somethingto your vehicle to make it stand out, thenyou look like every other vehicle that is onthe road like yours. So hopefully, you don'tget upset when your friends don't wave back.

Even houses, as I walk around town.The yards and the windows.. The olderhouses have knick knacks in the windows.Some times it is just one kind. Lighthouses,roosters, ducks, mules, windmills andetc.The newer ones have blinds of somesort. Some times these follow into the yards.But I notices a lot of the newer houses,have very little personal like yards. Theyhave the usual flower beds, maybe a treeor bush in the yard. But nothing unusual,nothing that says this person... asopposed to the neighbor. The rareexception is family houses. Meaning kidstoys, the kids make it home, where theothers are houses.

Neighborhoods aren't like they werewhen I was a kid. Kids don't get to be kidslike I did or even my kids did. We have tokeep the kids guarded from society, andthat is sad, as these kids will ever knowwhat freedom is. They will live in guardedneighborhoods, or apartments as adults.

Where did we go wrong? I don't knowreally. They said it was going to be comicbooks when I was a kid. They said it wasgoing to be television and when they wereteens it was the music, when my kidswere kids. (mine were always outsideplaying, so maybe that is why mine did sowell) and now they say it is the music andvideo games. Maybe it is all of them...maybe it is none of them.

But it seems the more isolation we have,the least involved we are, and the otherside of the coin, is the less we have to relyon. We rather write out a check for strangersin another state or country, then mow alawn for a neighbor who has become disabled.So while they are in their houses, will anyoneknow that something is wrong, will they knowthat you need help?Maybe, but probably not...

2 comments:

Remember when kids went "trick or treating" without fear of finding razor blades in their apples; when parents actually let you accept an apple? Remember when you knew the names of everyone on your street and neighbors personally welcomed newcomers?

I do and I miss it. But you know we bloggers, as abstract as we are, have more "family" and community than a lot of people. Sad and scarey.

Cis, that is a hell of a post there. Makes me search myself. I never speak to my neighbors, and I'm uncomfortable when I think people are watching me. I am pretty much a solitary figure. I've been hurt a lot; that might have something to do with it.

I think people are so mentally fatigued anymore from fighting the world that there's no time for a decorative home life, they just let the blinds fall and pass out on the couch. Also, with the way the economy is, there isn't anything like the permanence of people living in the same houses for long periods of time, so that might have something to do with it.

The only reason I stay in CDA is because I'm more at home here than anywhere else. Where else would I go? But, I don't even know the first names of any of my neighbors. I never get phone calls or visitors, either. Maybe the computer is taking the place of all the personal contact I used to have in my life.

That said, both you and I are fortunate to be where we are. Fairly small towns with lots of scenery and a big lake nearby. I love the Sandpoint City Park; I've thought about going up there just to "spend the day" sometime, maybe do some shopping, etc. Gee, I've almost typed a full-length post on YOUR blog!